Elsie ran toward The Velvet Haven''s secret exit, tears streaming down her face and scattering in the wind. Hans had let her go! Did this mean he really was Hubery? That his true self was still there, just hidden beneath lost memories?


    Filled with a surge of adrenaline and hope, she ran as fast as she could, desperate to find Evadne and share the evidence and this incredible news.


    After exiting the tunnel, she found herself alone on the dark, overgrown mountain. Suddenly, she stopped, her body rigid.


    Cold, piercing white lights shot out from all directions, trapping her slender figure in their re. The brilliant beams formed a of light, pinning her in the center,pletely surrounded.


    Her heart pounded like a drum. Cold sweat soaked her pale skin, and the veins on the back of the hand gripping the dagger throbbed.


    Six assassins dressed in ck emerged from the undergrowth, their shlights trained on her as they closed in like a pack of hyenas. Thebined light was as bright as day, leaving her with no ce to hide.


    There was only one way out: to fight.


    Her eyes turning crimson, Elsie lunged, her dagger shing at the throat of one of the assassins. She put all her strength into the attack, moving with lightning speed. The man, caught off guard by her ferocity, hesitated for a split second. His shlight dropped to the ground as blood gushed from his neck.


    Seizing the opening, Elsie bolted without looking back. This might be her only chance.


    Not a chance to escape. A dark premonition was growing stronger, twisting in her gut like a cold de. She knew there were likely more ambushers on the mountain. She wasn''t going to make it back tonight.


    But this was her only chance to get the information out.


    Seeing that no one was immediately behind her, she pulled the evidence from her clothes. She quickly dug a small hole under arge tree with her dagger and buried the package. She carved a cross into the tree trunk as a marker, then continued running as she dialed Evadne''s number.


    Evadne answered after two rings, her voice tired but still gentle enough to make Elsie want to cry. "Elsie?"


    Just as Elsie opened her mouth to speak, a gunshot rang out.


    A bullet tore through her left arm, the one holding the phone. The device fell from her grasp and tumbled down the mountainside.


    On the other end of the line, Evadne heard the deafening crack, followed by a chaotic rustling sound before the call went dead.


    A chill ran down her spine. She shot up in bed and immediately tried calling Elsie back, but it wouldn''t go through.


    Her heart clenched, her palm slick with sweat. *Was that a gunshot? What happened to Elsie?!*


    Evadne was staying at her vi in Elmsworth for a project, not at Silveke Harbor. She hesitated to call Elvis and instead dialed the butler''s number.


    "Ms. Evadne," Fitch answered immediately.


    "Was Ms. Archer staying at our house tonight?!" Evadne''s voice was dry with panic.


    "Yes, she''s been here for the past couple of days."


    "Is she there now?!"


    "No, actually. Ms. Archer left alone in her car around eleven, through the back gate. The guards stopped her, but she said she couldn''t sleep and was just going for a drive. She hasn''te back yet, and we were starting to wonder."


    A roaring filled Evadne''s ears, and her heart plummeted into a cold abyss. After hanging up, she realized her thin nightgown was soaked with cold sweat, her hand trembling as she clutched her phone. She thought calling Cassius, but he was still in Country M searching for Chasel. Arnold was out with Camille Evert, and even if she dragged him out of bed, he was a schr, not a fighter. What could he do? Elvis was back with his organization. The only person nearby who could help was Aaron.


    She called Aaron, pacing frantically by the window. But after three tries, he didn''t


    pick up.


    Desperate, Evadne threw on some clothes and ran downstairs.


    Themotion woke the


    light-sleeping Alva, who quickly threw on a robe and hurried over. Seeing Evadne''s deathly pale face, she forgot all formalities. "Mrs. Abernathy, you look terrible! Are you feeling unwell? Where are you going? I''lle with you!


    "Alva... Elsie... She''s in trouble! I have


    to go save her!" Normally, Evadne


    would have handled this herself,


    never wanting to worry anyone else. But this time, perhaps because of everything that had happened recently, herposure broke. Cóntent